Usually seen as a problem for overweight, middle-aged men, research reveals menopausal women are at a high risk of cardiovascular illness When, in her late 40s, Rebecca Hutchinson started having hot flushes and dizzy spells, she thought it was because of the menopause , and her doctors believed the same. “I started to have episodes where I felt ‘funny’,” she says. “If ever I went for a long walk, I would feel clammy, get out of breath and have to sit down.
In a hot tub on my wedding anniversary, my swimming costume felt so tight I thought it was strangling me. It didn’t occur to me this would have anything to do with my heart.” Hutchinson, who is now 57, was a normal weight, ate healthily and took regular exercise.
She consulted her GP several times: on each occasion, she was told: “It’s just your age”. Hutchinson was given hormone replacement therapy (HRT) , which helped with some of the symptoms, but not the hot flushes. The reason? Her symptoms were a sign of angina – pain in the chest caused by reduced blood flow to the heart muscles, and a warning sign for risk of a heart attack or stroke.
In December 2018, Hutchinson had a massive heart attack. Asked to picture a heart-attack victim, most people would imagine a middle-aged, overweight man clutching his chest. However, a body of research reveals that midlife women are increasingly at risk of cardiovascular problems.
It makes a case for more midlife women to be vigilant about their heart health and r.
